Endoscope apparatus

Abstract

An endoscope apparatus has a transmission device of an endoscope and a reception device of a processor. The transmission device calculates a DC balance value of input data, compares the DC balance value and a cumulative value thereof, and compares the sign of the DC balance value and the sign of the cumulative value. When the signs are the same sign, the transmission device generates intermediate data by exchanging a first value and a second value with each other for all the bits of the input data, and generates predetermined information indicating that all the bits have been inverted. When the signs are different signs, the transmission device performs a process of setting the input data as the intermediate data and transmits the intermediate data by a serial signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An endoscope apparatus comprising an endoscope including an image pickup device and a transmission device, and a processor including a reception device communicating with the transmission device, wherein
 the transmission device of the endoscope comprises: 
 a first subtraction section calculating a first subtraction value obtained by subtracting a number of bits having a second value from a number of bits having a first value in input data constituted by a collection of a predetermined number of bits each of which has the first or the second value, the input data being image data of a video signal from the image pickup device; 
 a first data processing section performing a first predetermined process for the input data to generate intermediate data constituted by the predetermined number of bits; 
 a second subtraction section calculating a second subtraction value obtained by subtracting the number of bits having the second value from the number of bits having the first value in the intermediate data; 
 a first accumulation section calculating a cumulative value of the second subtraction value; and 
 a transmission section transmitting the intermediate data by a serial signal; wherein 
 the first predetermined process is a process of: comparing a sign of the first subtraction value of the input data and a sign of the cumulative value of the first accumulation section; generating the intermediate data by exchanging the first value and the second value with each other for all the bits of the input data and generating predetermined information indicating inversion of all the bits when the sign of the first subtraction value and the sign of the cumulative value are the same sign; and setting the input data as the intermediate data when the sign of the first subtraction value and the sign of the cumulative value are different signs; 
 the transmission section causes the predetermined information of each input data to be included in a blanking period in the video signal so that the predetermined information is collectively transmitted; and 
 the reception device of the processor comprises: 
 a serial reception section receiving the serial signal and outputting the serial signal as received data for each predetermined number of bits; 
 a second data processing section generating, for the received data, output data by exchanging the first value and the second value with each other for all the bits of the received data when the predetermined information is generated, and generating the received data which is received as the output data when the predetermined information is not generated; 
 a third subtraction section calculating a third subtraction value obtained by subtracting the number of bits having the second value from the number of bits having the first value in the received data; 
 a second accumulation section calculating a cumulative value of the third subtraction value; and 
 an abnormality detection section comparing a sign of the third subtraction value of the received data and a sign of the cumulative value of the second accumulation section, and, when the sign of the third subtraction value and the sign of the cumulative value of the second accumulation section are the same sign, generating predetermined error information. 
 
     
     
       2. The endoscope apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the first accumulation section and the second accumulation section initialize the cumulative value in a predetermined cycle. 
     
     
       3. The endoscope apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the predetermined cycle is a cycle of a horizontal synchronizing signal or a vertical synchronizing signal of the video signal. 
 
     
     
       4. An endoscope apparatus comprising an endoscope including an image pickup device and a transmission device, and a processor including a reception device communicating with the transmission device, wherein
 the transmission device of the endoscope comprises: 
 a first subtraction section calculating a first subtraction value obtained by subtracting a number of bits having a second value from a number of bits having a first value in input data constituted by a collection of a predetermined number of bits each of which has the first or the second value, the input data being image data of a video signal from the image pickup device; 
 a first data processing section performing a first predetermined process for the input data to generate intermediate data constituted by the predetermined number of bits; 
 a second subtraction section calculating a second subtraction value obtained by subtracting the number of bits having the second value from the number of bits having the first value in the intermediate data; 
 a first accumulation section calculating a cumulative value of the second subtraction value; and 
 a transmission section transmitting the intermediate data by a serial signal; wherein 
 the first predetermined process is a process of: comparing a sign of the first subtraction value of the input data and a sign of the cumulative value of the first accumulation section; generating the intermediate data by exchanging the first value and the second value with each other for all the bits of the input data and generating predetermined information indicating inversion of all the bits when the sign of the first subtraction value and the sign of the cumulative value are the same sign; and setting the input data as the intermediate data when the sign of the first subtraction value and the sign of the cumulative value are different signs; 
 the transmission section causes the predetermined information of each input data to be included in a blanking period in the video signal so that the predetermined information is collectively transmitted; and 
 the reception device of the processor comprises: 
 a serial reception section receiving the serial signal and outputting the serial signal as received data for each predetermined number of bits; 
 a second data processing section generating, for the received data, output data by exchanging the first value and the second value with each other for all the bits of the received data when the predetermined information is generated, and generating the received data which is received as the output data when the predetermined information is not generated; 
 a third subtraction section calculating a third subtraction value obtained by subtracting the number of bits having the second value from the number of bits having the first value in the received data; and 
 a second accumulation section calculating a cumulative value of the third subtraction value.